A/N: Thanks so much to BurnedSpy, Guest, pen4lew, Guest (Jackie?), zenfrodo, max2013, Stork Hardy, Caranath, catlover1033, Vinsmouse, bhar, Future Animator, ILoveMom and Leya for your reviews! They always make me smile. And of course, thanks to those reading!

Chapter 26

Frank saw Kathy standing in the doorway to her bedroom, the expression on her face one of intense anger. He watched her pull back her arm to throw her purse, and in that split second, he knew exactly what she was about to do.

"Em, move!" he shouted.

In spite of the excruciating pain in his thigh, he leapt forward hurling himself between Emily and Kathy's purse in the nick of time.

The bag smacked him in his back and Frank dropped to his knees, his leg buckling from the exertion.

Emily spun around. "Oh my word! Frank are you okay?"

Frank blew out a breath of air, trying to control the pain shooting through his thigh.

"Yeah," he grunted. "Just give me a minute."

"Bess, Tammy, come help me!" Emily called, as she knelt down next to him.

Frank didn't resist as the girls pulled him to his feet and dragged him to the sofa. He gritted his teeth against the pain as they helped him lie down.

Bess propped a pillow under his head, then announced, "I'm calling the doctor."

"I don't need a doctor," Frank protested.

"Then you can tell him that when he gets here," Bess said, and headed for the phone.

"Tammy, get him an ice pack," Emily ordered. "And Lauren, can you bring him a glass of water?"

"Wh-what can I do?" Kathy asked.

"You can get out of my sight," Emily said. "Before I say something I'm going to regret."

"I-I didn't mean to hit him," Kathy protested. "H-he jumped in front of my purse. I was just tossing it to Tammy."

Like hell you were, Frank thought. He debated on whether he should point out that he knew exactly who Kathy was aiming for. Unfortunately he was in too much pain to speak in complete sentences. Kathy's actions alarmed him, however. She obviously knew something was up with Emily.

They had to get proof she was the stalker. Today.

OOOoooOOO

Joe walked through the door of the hotel lobby behind Nancy who was headed over to the bank of phones along the wall.

"I'll call upstairs and talk to Frank," she said. "That way Kathy won't even have to know you're in the building."

"Sounds good." Joe looked toward the restaurant and the smell of homemade French onion soup tickled his nose. "How about we meet in there? I'm kind of hungry."

Nancy glanced at her watch. "It's barely eleven o'clock."

"Your point?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll tell him to meet us in the restaurant."

She picked up the receiver and phoned the suite as Joe grinned and headed off to reserve a table.

OOOoooOOO

Bess was scooping ice into a towel to place on Frank's thigh when the phone rang. She picked up the receiver and cradled it under her jaw as she folded the towel over the ice.

"This is Bess."

"Hey, it's me," Nancy's voice greeted her.

"Hi, where are you?"

"Downstairs. Joe and I were hoping Frank could meet us in the restaurant. We need some input on the case. We've discovered something really interesting."

"Umm…." Bess hesitated, wondering if she should tell Nancy what happened over the phone. Maybe she should just run down to the lobby and explain it in person.

"What's wrong?"

"Is Joe nearby?"

"No, he's getting a table. Do you need to talk to him?"

"Well…"

"Bess, spill it."

She gave a heavy sigh. "Kathy threw a purse to Tammy, but it looked like she was aiming it at Emily, and Frank jumped in front of it, and it hit him instead."

"What? Is he okay?"

Bess could hear the panic in Nancy's voice and she wanted to be reassuring. "He says he's fine, but we sent for Dr. Delacroix anyway. He told me that Joe had already spoken with him when you guys were at the monastery, and he should be here soon."

"I'm coming up."

The phone disconnected and Bess sighed. If Kathy knew what was good for her, she'd head for the hills now.

OOOoooOOO

"I'm going to kill her, Joe," Nancy said, pushing the elevator button repeatedly.

"Nance, you need to calm down. Frank's made of tough stuff. A purse hitting him isn't going to take him out." He smiled at her. "Otherwise Aunt Gertrude would have done him in years ago."

She didn't look amused. She pressed the "up" button again. Ten more times.

"What if she'd hit Emily with it? Would you be singing the same tune? Huh?"

Joe's lips tightened. No, he'd want to kill her.

"I didn't think so," Nancy said as they stepped into the elevator car and she pressed the button for the penthouse floor.

"Just please try and be careful, Nance. We still have a case to solve here," Joe reminded her.

"Actually, I don't give a damn about Kathy right now. I only want to make sure Frank is okay."

The elevator door opened and Nancy ran off down the hall to the suite.

Joe hoped against hope that she wouldn't lose it and get them all thrown out before he could prove Kathy was the stalker.

OOOoooOOO

"Honey, I told you I'm fine." Frank brushed away the cold washcloth Nancy had placed across his forehead.

"You have a grade two contusion that you just made worse by running and jumping. You're not fine."

Frank sighed. He was now lying in his bed, thanks to the doctor and Joe. The pain in his thigh was ebbing. Dr. Delacroix had drained the bruise, wrapped his leg, and given him a shot of painkillers. He was doing much better, but he wasn't sure he could convince Nancy of that. She was hovering.

"Seriously, babe. I feel much better than I did this morning. Draining the bruise helped a lot."

Nancy stepped back and pursed her lips. She looked doubtful. Frank reached out and took her hand.

"Honest. We're getting close to solving this case, and I need to get back to working on it."

She rolled her eyes. "I don't think you should be working."

"Hmm, and if you were the one lying here and I told you that, what would you say to me?"

A tiny smile teased the corners of her mouth. "I'd say you were off your rocker, Frank Hardy, and I'm going back to work."

Frank arched an eyebrow.

"Okay, fine. But if you start feeling nauseous or dizzy, you need to promise me you'll stop and rest."

"I promise." He pulled her closer. "I'm pretty sure that a kiss or two would make me feel a whole lot better."

"Just a kiss?"

"For now," Frank said. "But later tonight, when this pain reliever really kicks in, I'm going to want a whole lot more than that."

"Promise?"

For an answer, Frank sank his fingers in her hair and covered her lips with his. He moaned at his first taste of her, then sucked on her lower lip lightly, and slipped his tongue into her mouth. He was a goner.

Nancy kissed him back thoroughly as she stretched out on the bed next to him. Her hands roamed over his chest and she made a needy little sound in the back of her throat that sent him over the edge.

He cupped her face with his other hand and intensified the kiss, exploring her mouth, tasting deeper, trying to get enough to satisfy the ache that had nothing to do with the bruise on his thigh.

His hand slid over her collar bone, and down the front of her shirt, brushing it over her breast. Nancy gasped and arched into him.

"Hey, are you guys okay in there?" Joe's voice echoed on the other side of the door as the knob turned.

"I'm going to kill him," Frank muttered.

"Me, first," Nancy said, as she sat back and straightened her shirt.

"Oh, hey, sorry," Joe said as he entered the room.

Like hell he was. He had the same grin on his face as he did when he interrupted Frank's first kiss with Nancy in the hotel lobby in Los Angeles. He knew exactly what he was doing.

"What do you want, Joe?" Frank didn't even try to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"I want to wrap up this case." Joe closed the door behind him. "Did you find any evidence while we were at the monastery?"

"No." And that infuriated Frank. "Her room was clean."

"Her room?" Nancy asked. "Whose room were you searching? And why?"

"Kathy's her own stalker," Frank said. "Joe found some notes in her purse on the night of the ball."

"What?" Nancy stood. "Why that manipulative little–"

"Yeah, we know," Joe said. "I left the notes in her bag, on the off-chance that maybe someone else had put them there, and she just hadn't discovered them yet. But when she went through her purse, she ignored them."

"So you know she did it, but you have no evidence to prove it," Nancy said. "And without any evidence…"

"It's her word against ours," Frank finished. "And you know she'll just deny everything."

Nancy nodded. "Well, as much as I hate to suggest this, I think maybe Bess and I should take Kathy and her friends out of the suite and you and Joe should go over this place with a fine-tooth comb."

"Really, Nance?" Joe asked. "You'd do that?"

"You guys need to get this case finished. I need your help with mine." She sighed. "And if this is the only way…"

"She won't go for it, though," Joe warned.

"Then I'll just have to make her an offer she can't refuse." Nancy grinned.

Frank reached out and grabbed her hand. "Thanks, honey."

"You owe me," Nancy said, pointing her finger at him. "And I plan on collecting. Tonight."

Joe rolled his eyes. "Yeah, spare me the details. But thanks, Nance. Really."

"No worries. Just nail that little brat to the wall, please." She bent down and kissed Frank. "Don't overexert yourself, okay?"

"Promise," he said, kissing her again.

OOOoooOOO

After some arm twisting by Nancy, and Kathy's insistence that Emily accompany them even if she wasn't going to ski, the girls finally left the suite for a trip to the slopes.

Joe knew they didn't have much time to find evidence. If Kathy's whining was any indication, he didn't think they'd be gone very long. He entered the living room and found Frank searching the bar area.

"Anything?"

Frank shook his head. "No. I've checked out this room pretty thoroughly, too."

Joe gestured toward the girls' bedroom. "I'm just going to give it the onceover."

"Good idea."

Frank stood slowly, and Joe could see how much pain his brother was in, even though he was trying to be stoic.

"I could have easily missed something," Frank continued. "I'm not exactly as mobile as I'd like to be."

Joe walked to the front door and slipped the dangling chain into its lock. "I know it won't stop anyone from entering, but at least it'll give us a warning."

"Nan did say she'd try and call before they came back up, but with Kathy, you never know."

"You said it," Joe grumbled as he entered her bedroom.

OOOoooOOO

Nancy smiled as she reached the bottom of the ski run. The day was brilliantly sunny and the invigorating exercise had cleared her head. She closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath of the cold, crisp air. She wished again that she could be here on a pure pleasure trip. This place was beautiful.

"Told you it would do you some good," Bess called out. She snowplowed to a stop in front of her friend.

"You were right. I'm ready to take on the world."

"Or the girl who thinks she's the princess of it?"

Nancy rolled her eyes as she watched Kathy make her way down the last few feet of the run.

"Don't remind me. Frank owes me big for this." She nudged Bess. "Hey, I think she's flirting with your boyfriend."

"What?"

Bess stomped off to where Kathy was leaning heavily into Lars and Nancy laughed out loud as she headed toward the chair lift for another run.

OOOoooOOO

"Any luck?"

Joe glanced backwards and saw Frank leaning against the door frame to the teenagers' bedroom. He closed a nightstand drawer with a little more force than necessary. This search was frustrating him.

"No." He faced Frank. "Where the hell could she be hiding them?"

"Maybe she really doesn't have any notes or any other kind of evidence. Maybe we're way off track and she's not the stalker."

"I don't buy that. There's no evidence to indicate it could be anyone else but her. The feds haven't seen anyone around who even looks remotely suspicious." Joe brushed past his brother and stepped into the living room. "The evidence is here. I can feel it in my gut. Where haven't we looked?"

"The only other place would be Simone's and Louis's rooms."

"Then that's where we're headed." Joe strode purposefully toward the short hallway on the other side of the living room. "Oh, and speaking of Simone, Nancy and I have something we need to discuss with you when she comes back."

"Did you break the code?"

Joe turned and saw Frank following him, a slight limp slowing his pace.

"Maybe." Joe went to turn the handle on Simone's door when he noticed another door across from it. "What's in here?"

Frank shrugged. "Isn't that the coat closet?"

Joe turned the knob and surveyed its contents, then turned back to Frank and grinned.

"Jackpot."

OOOoooOOO

"That was such a blast!" Kathy's smiled as she followed her girlfriends into the locker room. "I just wish Joe were here. Hey, maybe I could run upstairs and talk him into going down a run or two with me."

"No," Nancy said firmly. "You're not going anywhere by yourself. And besides, Joe is working."

Kathy rolled her eyes and grabbed a towel and some shampoo out of her duffel bag. She'd had enough of Nancy's bossy attitude. Who did that girl think she was?

"Am I allowed to go into the shower by myself?"

"Why don't you just shower upstairs?" Tammy asked.

"More water pressure down here." Kathy slipped on her flip flops and headed across the tile floor of the locker room. "Besides, I don't want to go upstairs with scraggly wet hair and messy make up. I want to look beautiful for Joe."

OOO

"Good luck with that," Bess muttered, low enough for only Nancy and Emily to hear.

Kathy had been her usual obnoxious self all morning, and she actually had the gall to flirt with Lars. She was lucky Bess hadn't punched her in the mouth.

Nancy laughed as she reached for her towel. "I'll take a shower down here, too. I promised Joe I wouldn't let her out of my sight."

Lauren sighed. "Isn't that so romantic?"

"You have no idea," Bess said, with a perfectly straight face, ignoring the cough Emily wasn't able to suppress.

"I only hope that Joe can solve this quickly," Emily whispered. "Or I may have to push her off the chair lift."

"I'll help," said Bess.

OOOoooOOO

Joe stared into the hall closet. The luggage. This could be Kathy's hiding place. Who would think to look in luggage they'd already unpacked and stored away?

"What is it?" Frank asked.

"The girls' suitcases." Joe pulled one out and set it on the ground. "Don't you remember? When we checked in, Kathy had a tantrum saying they were taking up too much 'valuable closet space.' To shut her up, Louis moved them here."

"They aren't locked, are they?"

"Nope."

Joe opened Kathy's suitcase and searched through the main compartment and the zippered side pockets. It was empty. Disappointment washed over him.

"Damn. I thought we had something." He sat back on his heels. "I'm worried she's thrown all the evidence away, Frank. What if we can't find any proof that Kathy is behind all of this?"

Frank, who was still standing, took a step backwards and surveyed the bag carefully.

"Joe, something's not right. The inside of that case is too shallow for its outside dimensions. Is there a compartment on the other side?"

Joe flipped the suitcase over. "No."

He felt the bottom of the bag, then turned it again. Placing both hands inside, he slid his fingers along the edges and felt a piece of the lining give away.

With a triumphant smile, Joe pulled out the entire false bottom of the suitcase and peered into the compartment that lay underneath.

"Holy shit!"